


maybe we should tell them (or maybe not)

by GreenPencil



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Didn't Know They Were Dating, Dude tagging is hard, Fluff, Harley Keener is a little shit, Kisses, M/M, Michelle Jones Is a Good Bro, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Precious Peter Parker, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, idk what all to tag, listen this is all fluff, that's not a real tag??? excuse me???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:28:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24318064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreenPencil/pseuds/GreenPencil
Summary: Peter forgot to tell the Avengers he and Harley were a couple. He suggests that they should tell them and Harley suggests they don't.
Relationships: Harley Keener & Avengers Team, Harley Keener & Tony Stark, Harley Keener/Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Peter Parker, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Avengers Team, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 23
Kudos: 599
Collections: Parkner Secret Relationship Collection





	maybe we should tell them (or maybe not)

**Author's Note:**

> right so,,,, this was supposed to be done by the 15th then i got distracted with schoolwork and she-ra and all that jazz but it is finally complete and it's not even angsty (although i have a lot of angst wips, so guess this is my apology for those if/when i get them out-)! 
> 
> i would like to thank my twin (HeckoHackoHappy) because he read over the first bit and i would like to thank val (PotatoGuns) because they read over the completed version for me
> 
> hope y'all enjoyyyy

It starts in the lab, as most things involving Harley and Peter do. It seems fitting, considering that’s where they met, it’s where they started to fall for each other, it’s where Harley asked Peter out and it’s where Mr Stark suggested to Peter that they would make a good couple when Harley had left the room to go to the bathroom.

It’d been a few minutes since Harley left and apparently Mr Stark deemed that safe enough because he asked, “So… You and Harley. Do you, you know, _like_ him?” He eyed Peter out of the corner of his own, watching carefully for a reaction. The emphasis on the word ‘like’ kept any misunderstandings at bay.

Peter’s cheeks turned pink almost immediately because _oh god, they hadn’t told Mr Stark or the rest of the Avengers_. He clears his throat to respond, “Uh, well-”

He was interrupted by Harley coming into the lab, voice friendly, “What’d I miss?” He had drinks in his hand.

“Not much, we were just working,” Mr Stark covered smoothly, eyes flicking down to the glasses in Harley’s hand.

Peter’s voice was disbelieving, “Harley, are those Mr Stark’s _wine glasses_?” He was pretty sure those cost more than a year’s worth of rent and everything he owns - excluding the Iron Spider suit - and so when Harley tried to give him one he jumped back, freaking, “Harley, no! What the heck?”

“Relax, it’s just grape juice,” Harley forced the glass into Peter’s hand, turning before he could refuse it.

“Harley, they’re _wine glasses_! They look like they cost more than me, what if I drop it?!” His voice held an edge of panic and he eyed the glass like it was a bomb only moments away from exploding.

Mr Stark’s voice held an amused air as he reached around Harley to get his own glass of grape juice, “It’s fine, kiddo, I don’t mind. It’s just a glass and besides, you’d probably catch it.” His smile was fond and he was enjoying the domesticity and easy air between the two, further proof they would be good together, in his opinion.

“Did you not hear when I said _it costs more than me_?” 

The bickering went on for a while more, but none of it was really serious. Tony resigned to getting the two of them together, with or without the Avengers' help.

  
  
  


Later that week, while Harley and Peter were on a date and walking hand in hand among the busy streets of New York and discussing how Mr Stark had been “crazy busy with meetings” so the two spent more lab time together, Peter brings up the question he’d been asked as a possible form of explanation, “Oh my gosh, I forgot to tell you, but you know when you went off to go get drinks?”

Harley turned to give Peter his attention, “Yeah?”

“Okay, well you know what Mr Stark asked me? He asked me if I like you. Which made me think, we need to tell the Avengers.” 

“Or,” Harley’s eyes held a mischievous twinkle in them, “We could just let them try to figure it out on their own. It might be fun to see Mr Stark try to get us together. That’s probably why he’s been leaving us alone. We both know he hates meetings and loves lab time.” 

“You’re probably right and it _would_ be kinda funny to see how long we can get it to go on…” Peter relented with a shrug and a thoughtful expression, “Sure, then. Let’s get them to make fools of themselves.”

Harley gave a grin that almost made Peter feel bad about going along with it, “Thank you, darlin’!” 

  
  
  


Peter was leaning against the couch in the living room, perfectly content as he argued with his boyfriend, “I’m just saying, pineapple on pizza is good and you shouldn’t knock it before you’ve tried it!” 

“Okay, but it doesn’t sound right and Abbie says-” Whatever Abbie says, Peter would never know because just then Harley stumbled forward and braced himself on Peter’s other side. 

Peter stood up, “Are you okay?” He was concerned but he was mostly just amused. Usually it was him that was clumsy even despite the spider bite.

“Yeah, someone just pushed me,” He defended, standing up and turning to scowl at Sam who seemed somewhat disappointed. 

“I was hoping you’d fall into him and kiss like in movies and stupid romance novels,” He explained, giving a crooked grin like that would excuse shoving Harley.

Peter gave a bark of laughter, “Okay but we’re not in a movie or romance novel.”

“Plus,” Harley chirped helpfully, “Peter and I are just friends.”

Peter gave a nod and shrugged, turning to bury his grin into his own sweatshirt, arms crossed to make it look more like he was just glancing to the side. He was not subtle at all and for the umpteenth time he silently questioned how he’d hid that he was Spider-Man for so long.

“You should consider changing that then! I’d be glad to help in any big romantic gestures or recommending date locations or anything,” Sam advised, his grin absolutely teasing. 

Peter had to bite his sleeve to keep from laughing.

Harley was smooth, though, and he kept on, “That’s really generous of you, but again, me and Peter are just friends. I’ll definitely come to you if I ever ask someone out and need help though.”

Sam’s face fell and he walked off, seemingly defeated. Peter shook with laughter and Harley turned to give him a grin, offering a hand for a high five. Peter took his arms away from each other and his hand met Harley’s in a victorious _smack_.

  
  
  


Unsurprisingly, Natasha caught on. Peter suspected she probably knew they were together from the start. She was observant that way. She had approached him after dinner - _Why was it never Harley for these things? Was it because Peter couldn’t lie to save his life?_ \- and leaned back against the counter where he was in the kitchen washing dishes and stared at him. He glanced over at her and turned off the water, shifting so his focus was on her as he shook the water off his hands to the best of his ability. 

“Peter,” Natasha began, voice level and making the boy in question shift uncomfortably under the full intensity of her scrutiny.

He swallowed when he realized she wasn’t about to continue without any acknowledgement and cleared his throat, “Natasha.” He wasn’t sure what exactly it was he’d done, but Natasha’s careful mask was in place, easily making him uneasy.

“Stark called us in for the strangest meeting the other day, you know?” Her words were cool, collected, and her word choice was intentional. Peter was acutely aware of this and tried not to let show how nervous he was.

His throat was dry, “Yeah? Uh, no, I mean, no I didn’t know. What, um, what about?”

“He asked us to try and get you and Harley together,” She could definitely see his eyes widen, even if he was quick to school his expression. She was on high alert and crazy observant right then, “Which I thought was strange…”

“Yeah, that is kin-” 

“...Since you and Harley are already together and have been for about, hm, a month or so.” There was no question there. She stated it like the fact that it was. 

Peter wasn’t really surprised she knew but he was still trying desperately to deny the fact, unsurprisingly, “I actually have no clue what you’re talking about Nat! Um, Mr Stark did ask me the strangest question the other day which I guess is why he called up that meeting,” He shrugged, setting off into a ramble, “Harley had gone to the bathroom and been gone for a few minutes when Mr Sta-”

Natasha cut him off, “Peter.” He quieted instantly, mouth snapping shut and cheeks coloring red. The amusement dancing in her eyes told him she wasn’t seriously upset or anything, but she clearly still did want to figure out why exactly Peter’s mentor had _called an_ Avenger’s _meeting_ over this. 

“Okay…” He relented, bouncing up onto his toes then back in a quick nervous motion, “It’s just, like, we didn’t tell you guys then Mr Stark asked me in the lab the other day if I _liked_ Harley,” Despite the fact Peter and the aforementioned boy had been dating for a while, his cheeks still flush a little, “and then Harley came back before I could answer. Then when I told Harley what had happened a few days later, he suggested we just… not tell you guys. To mess with you, I guess.”

Her lips curled up in a slight grin, “Carry on then. I won’t tell anyone. It is kind of amusing to see them so completely oblivious.”

He stared dumbfounded for a moment as she pushed off her perch to turn away before calling after her, “Thanks Aunt Nat!”

  
  
  


Peter was lazing on Ned’s couch, feet pressed against the back as his head dangled over the side. MJ was sitting pressed against the arm, glancing over a book to arch a brow at his and Ned’s conversation fondly. The other boy was sitting on the floor, legs crossed and leaning against the couch as he talked animatedly about nothing and everything. Star Wars, Mr Stark, Spidey, Flash, school assignments and the like.

It was no surprise when the conversation eventually got around to Harley. Peter’s voice was lazy as was his entire posture as he talked about how they were messing with the Avengers. Ned’s eyes were gleaming with amusement and Peter’s own entertained smile was overtaking his upside down face. 

MJ put her book aside after bookmarking the page she was on, leaning away from the couch’s arm and towards the boys conspiratorially, “What if every time the Avengers weren’t in the room you did something the general population sees as romantic? Like, kiss, cuddle, sit in his lap or something so that whenever an Avenger was coming you jumped away. That way there’s a little bit more of an _edge_.” Her eyes were dancing with mischief, giving away her interest in the conversation. 

Peter sat up ramrod straight at the suggestion, legs flexing as they pulled him up from where he was hanging, “Oh my god, _MJ_.” He stared at her with wide eyes for a moment before they narrowed, actually processing and considering MJ’s suggestion, “I mean… We could, actually.” 

Ned turned and got onto his knees, arms pressing against the couch cushion, “Peter, you totally should and then report back to us. Oh my god, they’d be so oblivious! It would be hilarious!” 

Peter frowned, clearly debating this but in the end deciding to pull out his phone and pull up Harley’s contact, eliciting a victorious shout from Ned and a slight smirk from MJ. 

**darling** : harley  
**princess:** yesss?

 **darling:** okay okay so so i’m hanging out with mj and ned right?  
**darling:** mj suggested that like,,, whenever we’re in a room at the compound and there aren’t any avengers we should do something that’s like a couple thing (you know, kiss n stuff) to like “add an edge” 

**princess:** tell mj she’s a genius and that i’m down for that 

Peter turned his gaze away from his phone, offering a grin to his friends, “Harley says that you’re a genius, MJ, and that he’s gonna do it.”

“I know,” The girl responded oh-so-humbly as Ned’s face possibly split with his excitement. Peter didn’t _really_ understand why it was so exciting to Ned but, well, his longest friend’s excitement was contagious and Peter found himself with his own grin stretching ear to ear. Ned’s talking picked back up at one thousand miles per hour and Peter fired back just as fast, MJ going back to her book and offering suggestions every now and then as they settled back down.

  
  
  


Peter jerked over to the other side of the couch as his Spidey Sense tingled, alerting him that Clint was in the vents. Having enhanced spider senses and a sixth sense alerting you to danger and retired spies hiding in vents was surprisingly useful in situations like this. 

Harley pulled out his phone easily, having become accustomed to Peter leaping away from cuddles or kisses suddenly and schooling an air of nonchalance as he started scrolling.

Clint leapt down from the vents gracefully, eyes wide and grin splitting his face, “You guys were totally kissing!” 

Peter’s cheeks colored in the flustered way that he was terrible at covering up as Harley arched a brow, denying the accusation, “We were? I would’ve put my phone down if you told me, Peter.”

The boy in question gave Harley a deadpan stare at the reference as Harley’s mouth quirked into a playful grin. 

Clint shook his head vehemently, “No, you totally were!” Because Clint was in fact a “retired” spy, he came up with a conclusion pretty swiftly, “You guys _are_ together!” A gasp, “And Tony has no clue, does he?” 

The taller of the pair turned his gaze away from Peter and onto the archer, “Yep. We’d like to keep it that way too actually, so maybe don’t tell him anything? Ah, also, Nat knows too.”

“I won’t say a thing. The irony would be too good to pass up,” Clint mock-saluted, seemingly not phased by Nat knowing but in excited anticipation at getting to be part of this scheme. Peter relaxed easily and shifted back over to lean into Harley, who wrapped an arm around him and tugged him closer into his side. 

After a while, Peter leaped away again, Clint’s head darting up in amusing fashion and Steve came in, instantly starting to berate Clint for not having started gathering snacks for movie night. As the two argued, Peter offered Harley a smirk which the boy returned with a wink.

  
  
  


After Clint it was Bucky, then Wanda, then Vision, then Rhodey, and so on and so forth until eventually, miraculously, everyone in the Compound knew except for Tony. FRIDAY would alert Harley and Peter whenever Tony was headed towards them (because Peter’s senses did sometimes fail them, hence why the others knew), siding against her boss in a very strange manner for an AI. It was ironic, considering Tony had been the one to approach Peter in the first place and get the team on deck with it.  
In the lab, the bots, ever the loyal creations, would see Harley and Peter flirt whenever they were alone and then once Tony was back, they’d whir at the man like mad. It was as if they were trying to tell their creator that he was wrong and that Harley and Peter already were a couple. Sadly, FRIDAY was the only one who could really speak and she was not telling Tony anything.

  
  


Peter was in the lab one particular afternoon, Mr Stark having left the boys alone for a “brief meeting”, and FRIDAY was down. Mr Stark was repairing her and in the meantime, the Compound would just have to survive without the AI. 

Peter, of course, forgot this due to the fact Harley kept pressing kiss after kiss onto his lips, soft and playful. They were dancing around each other, doing exactly as MJ had suggested since Mr Stark left the room. Sure, Peter could hear footsteps and then the elevator lowering, but he always could and if it was Mr Stark, FRIDAY would warn them. If not, well, why stop?

Harley tugged away eventually and Peter pouted a bit before Harley’s hands came up to tickle Peter’s ribs, the shorter of the pair’s eyes bugging out as he started laughing. He was ticklish enough as was before the spider bite and with the enhanced senses, the tickling was like _torture_. 

He attempted to squirm away, gasping between his laughter, “Harley- Oh my god, stop!” 

The elevator dinged somewhere off in the distance and FRIDAY still hadn’t said anything so Peter didn’t really protest when Harley finally stopped and leaned in to give his boyfriend another kiss.

Peter heard as the lab doors opened. It must’ve been Rhodey or Pepper, then, Peter decided. 

“Holy shit.” 

He snapped his head to the side, Harley’s moving just as fast. Mr Stark was there, eyes bugging out of his head like he was going crazy, “You two- Peter, what? I- Why didn’t you-” He couldn’t seem to get his thoughts together, which frankly Peter found a little hilarious considering he was a literal genius.

Harley seemed to cool down quicker and stepped away slightly, but then flung an arm over Peter’s shoulder. Clearly he wasn’t going to try and pointlessly deny what Mr Stark had so clearly seen.

Peter, on the other hand, was an entirely different story, “Uhh, it’s not what it looks like- I promise that we’re not-”

“It’s exactly what it looks like! You guys didn’t tell me you’re a couple!” Mr Stark held a hand to his heart, melodramatics in play, “I’d expect this kind of behavior from you, Harley, but not Peter! Peter never lies to me, unless it’s about something self-destructive like injuries or not getting enough sleep.” Peter turned red at the accusation as Harley gave a snort of laughter beside him. 

“In his defense Tony, he did want to tell you when you asked if we were together. I told him we shouldn’t tell any of you and see how long it could last. Peter agreed,” He shrugged, mirth in his blue eyes. 

Tony straightened up at that, coming away from the doors so he was closer and rubbing his hands together conspiratorially, “Ooh, okay. So you’re hiding from the rest of the Avengers.” Peter wasn’t really surprised that was what Mr Stark decided to focus on instead of, say, the fact that’d been together at least since Mr Stark asked that question that fateful day.

“Actually you’re the last one to know. Everyone else found out and then FRIDAY started warning us whenever you came into a room and since she’s down…” Harley trailed off.

Mr Stark took on a look of betrayal, “My own AI! How dare she! I’m reprogramming her.”

Peter grinned, “I’m pretty sure the bots were trying to tell you though.” 

Tony’s gaze snapped over to Dum-E, U and Butterfingers. Dum-E came a little closer, letting out an undignified whir as though to say yes, they and the other bots had been trying to tell their creator to the best of their ability.

“My poor bots! I’m so sorry I ignored you!” Tony turned to wink at the boys who were standing there, both of them with various levels of amusement on their faces. Tony was really being a drama queen, and perhaps that was just fitting.

After a while of Tony petting and consoling the ‘poor bots’, he went back to work and apparently that was that. Peter was expecting a little more, but he was fine with how it turned out. 

He excused himself to go to the bathroom and when he was in the elevator on his way back down, he heard Mr Stark ask Harley, “So, you and Peter, huh?"

**Author's Note:**

> feel free to leave a comment or kudos if you did like it!


End file.
